TO: Ms. Carol Fitzpatrick, Dr. Kenneth Baldwin

FROM: Linda R. Harris

DATE: October 21, 2003

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: ONLINE 393

INTRODUCTION

The research project that I would like to work on is an online version of English 392, the Tutorial in Writing. English 392 is taught by writing instructors, who meet with three students per section. Each instructor teaches three sections, and English 392 teaching assignments are rotated through the instructor ranks, so that most instructors teach the course once a year, either in the fall or in the spring semester.

The course is offered for from one to three credits. for each credit, the students write a research paper. Students taking the course for 3 credits have the option of making one paper non-research. The topic for each paper comes from another course that the student is taking that semester. Of course, students cannot submit papers from English 392 for grading in the other course or vice versa.

Each week, the students are responsible for completing one stage in the writing process: proposal, rough draft, complete draft, and revised final draft. The class meetings focus on evaluating the work each student has done on that particular stage. The course grade is based on timely completion of each stage and work as an evaluator of the other class members’ work. There are no texts to purchase, nor are there any examinations or quizzes.

To better serve the student community, online sections (perhaps 3 of the 9 offered each semester) should be offered. There is a special discipline required of students who will work online. The course can be constructed so that the first 4-week rotation is taught in the traditional face-to-face method so that the students learn the format of the course and become comfortable working in that format before they move online.

DATA COLLECTION

My investigation will begin by consulting print, electronic, and human sources. In reviewing material, I will look for information on asynchronous and synchronous communication. It will be necessary to know which method produces the best results from students before I begin the plan for the online course. I will also look for sources that discuss the value of writing tutorials and the techniques that have worked during these tutorial sessions.

My main resource will be the instructors who teach the face-to-face sections of 392. I plan to request syllabi and lesson plans from all instructors who have ever taught or are teaching 392. After reviewing everyone’s course materials, I will interview the instructors to discover the individual variations in teaching the course, the types of topics students have written about, and the amount of instructor intervention in the evaluation process, for instance, teaching MLA documentation. I hope to discover things such as whether instructors reject topics students have chosen or if they contact professors of the courses that students tie their paper topics to.

I will observe the three instructors who will teach English 392 in the spring of 2004. I will also circulate a questionnaire among 392 students to see if there is interest in taking the course online. Since some of the students take the course over 1-3 semesters (taking 1 credit per semester is permissible), they will be able to participate in the online version, especially in the pilot semester.

In connection with the online course, I will have to refresh some of my computer skills, especially the use of Blackboard. Since I will be investigating synchronous communication for the course, I should become familiar with Blackboard’s virtual classroom. The discussion board will be effective for asynchronous communication.

OUTCOMES

  1. I will design the online version of 392, along with its syllabus.
  2. I will begin the design of a website for the course.
  3. I will create and teach one pilot section of the online version in fall 2004 along with any other writing instructors who wish to teach the course online.
  4. I will create a workshop for those instructors who wish to teach online.

EVALUATION

Judging the worth of my research will take the form of an oral presentation to the W&RD faculty during a regularly scheduled meeting near the end of the semester. I hope that as a result of that presentation, some instructors volunteer to participate in the pilot testing of the online course.